Foundation garment



Aug. 9, 1938. H. WIPPERMAN.

FOUNDAT'ION GARMENT Filed April 26. 1938 w a RM W o E TE N my m WW an IA 4 av 05 m I Patented Aug. 9, 1938 UNITED 1 STATES PATENT OFFICE I2,125,974 FOUNDATION GARMENT Hildegard Wipperman, Chicago, Ill.,assig'nor to The H. W. Gossard 00., Chicago, Ill., a corporation ofIllinois Application April 25, 1938, Serial No. 204,263

. Claims.

This invention relates to foundation garments for women and has foritsobject to provide a garment of this type having an improved fas-.tening means which provides greater ease and 5 flexibilityof adjustmentthan heretofore.

The invention is particularly applicable to I foundation garments of thetype comprising a corset and a brassiere, having end sections orflattening the diaphragm and confining andupstock sizes but differentindividuals taking 'the same size garment frequently differ in bust, di-

tening means for garments of this type which facilitates opening andclosing, insures a per- .fectly flat fastening, and makes it-possible toadapt a garment of given size to different individuals who difl'erslightly in their measurements.

In carrying out my invention the flaps, which 35 are secured tothejrassiere or to the sides of the corset and brassire, terminate inelastic straps which are provided means such as buttonhole tabs, whichare adapt- .ed to be secured to suitable cooperating fastening elementsat the back of the garment. Although it is possible to provide variousfastening means, such as books and eyes, etc. for this purpose, theinvention will be described in connec tion with a particular embodimentemploying cooperating buttons and buttonhole tabs which have specialadvantages in garments of this type. .,When the flaps of the garment areprovided with buttonhole tabs as in the garment which is hereinafterdescribed for purposes of illustration, I provide aplurality ofbuttonholes which penetrate the garment adjacent the back waistline, andtwo buttons are secured to a tape or tapes at the inside of the garment,'these tapes being long enough to conveniently pass through the flaps tothe back of the garment in differwith suitable fastening.

any of the buttonholes in the back of the garment. The buttons projectoutwardly at the back of the garment and cooperate with the tabs on theflaps to hold same under the desired tension. This construction providesa number of possible positions for fastening the flaps to the back ofthe garment and thereby enables the tension to be adjusted in anydesired manner. Another important'advantage of this construction is thatit enables the flaps of the gar-. ment to lie smoothly at the back ofthe garment since the wearer may fasten the first flap to a. button inhigh position, and the second flap to a button in a lower position, withthe resultthat the flaps will lie much more smoothly than if the buttonswere both arranged on the same plane. V

These and other features and advantages of the invention will beapparent from the follow- .ing description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a rear view of' a model wearing a combination garment andadjustable fastening means embodying the invention.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary view of the upper rear portion of the garmentshowing the adjustable fastening means;

Fig. 3 is a similar view of the interior of the garment;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 3, showing a modification of theinvention; and

Fig. 5 is a detail view showing the tape carrying the buttons in theembodiment of Figs. 1 to 3.

The garment shown in Fig. 1 comprises a corset having front and backsections land 2 connected bylongitudinal side elastic sections 3ofsuitable construction as shown, for example, in Cunningham Patent#l,859,198 of May 1'7, 1 932. A gusset 4 is inserted at the upper backof the corset, and the interior lining of back portion 2 is providedwithvertical stiffening bones 5 as shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

The brassiere comprises a front portion 601' soft inelastic materialadapted to cover the body front edge of the corset. End sections orflaps I are secured to the sides of the brasslre and down the sides ofthe corset to a point adapted to lie below the diaphragm and at aboutthe waistline of the wearer. These flaps extend rearwardly to overlapthe sides and back of the garment. .Each flap terminates in a set ofelastic straps B, 9 and I0 which are preferablyv stitched to the outerends of the flaps. The upper and lower diagonal elastic straps 8 and iiiof each set converge from their points of attachment to across the bustsand isv secured to the upper the flaps I, while the horizontal elasticstraps 9 of each set are shorter than the diagonal straps 8 and I0 andhave their outer ends secured to an intermediate portion of straps 8 andID as in Cunningham Patent #1,899,890 of February 28, 1933. Each set ofstraps terminates in a fastening device such as a buttonhole tab I2which is adapted to be fastened to the back of the garment. The garmentis also provided with the usual shoulder straps l3 and garters M asillustrated in Fig. 1. i

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figs. 1 to 3, twovertical series of buttonholes l6 and I! are arranged in the backsection 2 of the garment on opposite sides of the vertical centerline,two such buttonholes being provided in each series in the embodimentillustrated although a.

greater number of buttonholes may be employed if desired. A tape I8 islooped through two buttons l9. and 20, as shown in Fig. 5, and this tapeis fastened in the middle to a central point 2| on the rear section ofthe garment as best shown in Fig. 3.

This construction enables the tape l8 to swing free on the axis 2| sothat the buttons l9 and 20 may be inserted in either the upper 'or lowerbuttonholes I6 and I 'I which penetrate the back of the garment. Thispermits the flaps I and their associated elastic straps to lie smoothlyat the back of the garment since the wearer may fasten the first flap toa button in a high position, and the second flap to a button in a lowposition, and the flaps will lie much more smoothly than if the buttonswere of necessity on the same plane. Of course, a similar result couldbe accomplished with a plurality of buttons sewed in various positionsto the back of the garment, but in such case if the wearer should fastenthe lower side first, she .would have a very bad bulky c10sing,'and whena largenumber of buttons were employed there would be a very annoyingand unsightly bulging at the back of the garment. By means of myinvention the wearer may make either side the high side and such highside would be the one to be buttoned first, and it will be evident thatany number of buttonholes may be provided in any desired positionswithout increasing the bulk or otherwise inconveniencing the wearer.

Fig. 4 shows a modification of the invention in which the buttons Hand20 are strung on individual tapes 23 and 24 which are secured at points25-25 in the seams between the back section 2 and the side elasticsections 3 of the garment. This construction functions in the same wayas that previously described. it being understood that the tapeor tapesare of the proper length to pass through the buttonholes in position tobe engaged by the buttonhole tabs l2 on the back flaps of the garment.

It will be evident that various changes may be made in the details ofconstruction herein shown and described without departing from the scopeand spirit of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

The invention claimed is:

1. A foundation garment for women having.

connected front, back and side sections, and including flaps extendingrearwardly and having means for fastening same to the back of thegarment, the back of said garment containing a plurality of holes andfastening means secured to the inside of said garment and adapted to beprojected out through any one of a number of said vholes for engagementwith the fastening means on said flaps. I

2. A foundation garment for women having connected front, back and sidesections, and including flaps extending rearwardly and having means forfastening same to the back of the garment, the back of said garmentcontaining a plurality of holes in different vertical planes on bothsides of the centerline, and fastening means secured to the inside ofsaid garment and adapted to be projected out through any one of a numberof said holes for engagement with the fastening means on said flaps.

, 3. A foundation garment for women having connected front, back andside sections, and including flaps extending rearwardly and havingbuttonhole tabs for fastening same to the back of the garment, the backof said garment containing a plurality of buttonholes in differentvertical planes on both sides of the centerline, and buttons secured tothe inside of said garment and adapted to be projected outthrough anyone of a number of said buttonholes for engagement with the buttonholetabs on said flaps.

4. A foundation garment for women having connected front, back and sidesections, and including flaps extending rearwardly and having buttonholetabs for fastening same to the back of the garment, the back of saidgarment containing a series of buttonholes in different vertical planeson both sides of the centerline, atape secured to the inside of saidgarment intermedi ate said vertical series of buttonholes, and buttonssecured to the ends of said tape on opposite sides of its point ofattachment to the garment in position to be passed outwardly through anyone of a plurality of said buttonholes for engagement with thebuttonhole tabs on said flaps.

5. A foundation garment for women having connected front, back and sidesections, and including flaps extending rearwardly and having buttonholetabs for fastening same to the back of the garment, the back of saidgarment containing a series of buttonholes arranged in differentvertical planes on both sides of the centerline, a pair of tapes securedto the inside of said garment adjacent the sides thereof, and a buttonsecured to the end of each of said tapes in position to be passedoutwardly through any one of the series of adjacent buttonholes forengagement with the buttonhole tabs on said flaps.

HILDEGARD WIPPERMAN.

